


Chaos in the Aftermath

by Shadowsof_thenight



Series: Fictober [17]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Anger, Fighting, Gen, No Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 04:50:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21112949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowsof_thenight/pseuds/Shadowsof_thenight
Summary: In the aftermath of their fight with Thanos, so much has changed for the avengers. As part of the general public you know nothing of their struggles behind closed doors. That is, until you manage to snag one of the jobs in PR.Promptnumber: 11 “It’s not always like this”





	Chaos in the Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> This is the same reader as in dream boat, just a few years prior. I’m thinking of making more companion pieces, but it might not be for this challenge.
> 
> Also, I know I’m several days behind by now. I will finish this challenge eventually, but my health is bad and writing takes a lot of time and energy right now. However, things are looking up, in a month I will finally be getting the treatment that I need to get better. So fingers crossed..

You were excited as you stepped into the massive building in the middle of New York. As long as you could remember, this was the one place where you wanted to work and though a lot had changed in the years that you were growing up, you had finally managed to achieve your goal. Today was your first day at your new job, working in the office of public relations. Your position didn’t entail much yet, but you were only just beginning, newly out of school and had big dreams of climbing the ladder. Someday you would run that department, you thought naively confident.

When you announced at the front desk, you were quickly taken on a routine manoeuvre of registration. A picture was taken for your personal id, which would be done in a week. Until then you were to carry a visitors badge. It had little clearance and would require you to be accompanied to different floors, but it was the best they had to offer.  
A background check had already been done, though a new round of questions were fired at you as you waited in a small room. They took your fingerprints and asked even more questions.

By the time you were done, you felt drained already and the day was only just beginning. The whole process had taken over an hour of your time, but that still left 7 hours of work to be filled. A little more timid you followed a woman to the elevator, where she pressed number two and the doors closed behind you.  
She was quiet and had a stern look on her face, not giving you a single glance. The elevator dinged and as soon as the doors were open she walked out at a brisk pace, not even checking to see if you were keeping up. Hastily you followed, scared to lose sight of her as she rounded a corner.

And you were still rushing as you rounded that same corner, only to bump into her back as she had suddenly stopped. Well, perhaps not suddenly, but still unexpectedly for you. Immediately you began to apologise, but you brushed it off, early listening to you and still not looking at you. In front of you a door opened and out stepped one of the most familiar faces in the world. Pepper Potts. Or did she go by Stark these days? She married the man, had his child, it made sense. Even though the press stubbornly kept calling her Potts.

“Mrs Potts, this is Y/n. It’s her first day,” the woman next to you stated in a monotone voice, before swiftly turning around and walking away. Pepper called out a thank you, before turning to you with a kind smile on her face.

“Good morning, I hope you survived your initiation well. I know it’s a rather gruelling process,” She said as she held out her hand for you to shake. A little starstruck you shook it and just nodded, your mouth dry from a sudden attack of anxiety. It wasn’t the avengers that you really wanted to work with, they were great and all, but who you truly admired was this woman before you. Meeting her was a little scary.

She smiled again, placing her hand lightly on your shoulder and guiding you towards an open plan office area. In the corner stood a small portable cabinet, your name already on it and she explained that with that you could work at any available desk. Flexible workspaces, you’d heard about them before. Apparently they were all the rage with managers.

As you find an empty desk and sit down, Pepper hands you an assortment of manuals for you to read through and get acquainted with. They seem endless and you wonder just how much time you’re granted for reading them. Pepper gave you no indication. She simply wished you luck and promised to check in with you in a few. A few what, you didn’t know.

It was lunchtime when she finally did come back and you had managed to read two of the thick manuals, the pile of those you were yet to read still intimidatingly high. Ready to defend your lack of progress you waited for her to voice her disappointment. She didn’t, instead she asked you to join her for lunch at the cafeteria in the tower and to accompany her to a meeting afterwards. You just nodded, not knowing what to say. You hadn’t been ready for this response. You’d been working on excuses and she wasn’t asking you for those.

During the lunch she kindly asked you about your life, the years in college and your dreams for the future. You’d never heard of bosses that were this interested and it puzzled you, though you answered her as honestly as you could. There were still so many dreams that you had and it was nice to share them with someone. Especially someone so willing to listen en offer up advice.  
When lunch was finished, you realised that you had barely asked her anything in return and vowed to think of some good questions.

“I’ve got one more thing to take care off before the meeting, why don’t I meet you up there?” Pepper said as she stood up, already surrounded by people demanding her time and again you nodded. She told you where to go and you just nodded as she walked off, kindly answering the people around her and signing papers. She was a very busy woman.

Finally you gathered your things and walked up the stairs to the floor above the one you were currently on. The floor consisted of several conference rooms and you carefully checked the numbers until you had reached the room where Pepper had promised to meet.  
The room was already occupied, by a large chuck of the avengers and your mouth went dry. That pile of manuals suddenly didn’t seem all that intimidating anymore. Were you to attend a meeting with the avengers? Was their meeting running late? Did you remember the numbers wrong?  
Anxiously you looked around in hopes of seeing Pepper coming your way, but the halls were empty and you were on your own.

The door of the room opened and someone pushed roughly past you, while loud shouting overwhelmed you. Shocked you stepped to the side and glanced into the room, wondering what was going on. Now that the open door allowed you to hear what was going on in the room you were staring wide eyed.

This wasn’t simply a heated conversation, they were fighting. Unintentionally, you stepped over the threshold and into the room. Quietly you stood there, wondering just what had gotten everyone so angry. In the cacophony of sounds it was hard to decipher any specifics.

This was not how you had imagined these people to interact. During the rare press moments they all seemed rather friendly. It confused you to see them so up in each others faces and you weren’t sure what to do. Did you step in? Someone had too. Though you doubted that you should be that person. This was your first day and you were not equipped for this. Looking back into the hallway, you hoped to see Pepper rushing in your direction, but she wasn’t there.

You had half a mind to leave, go back to your desk or search for Pepper. You didn’t know what else to do. But then things escalated even further and the creature you knew as Rocket jumped up of the chair he had been standing on, shoving the person before him as harshly as he could. This happened to be the new captain and you gasped as he took a few steps back and ended against the glass wall behind him.  
No harm had been done, you knew that, but it all seemed so…wrong.

“Stop!” You shouted, as everyone surged forward to get into the argument. Your voice was uncharacteristically loud and shocked you slapped your hand in front of your mouth. It did have the intended effect though, as everyone stopped their shouting and stood stock still, staring at you.

“Who are you?” Rocket angrily demanded and a blush quickly covered your cheeks as embarrassment took over. You had just shouted at the avengers. What had gotten into you?

“Ehm,” you stumbled, looking around the room and wishing Pepper was here already, “Y/N, I’ m new here” you finally said lamely.

“Y/n, I am so sorry,” Pepper rushed in behind you, looking angrily at the other people in the room, “I promise,** it’s not always like this.”**

You just nodded, staring at all the faces in different stages of anger. Some were slowly losing their fervour, while others seemed to be ramping up for more. Still, you had no idea what had happened.  
A scoff brought your eyes back to Rocket, who began to say that it was in fact like this every day. He seemed to relish in the chaos around him, you realised.

“It is when you’re here,” Sam Wilson grumbled, his fists clenching and unclenching at his side.

Rocket opened his mouth to retaliate when Pepper raised her voice, effectively drowning him out. Everyone sank down in their chairs and Pepper directed you to an empty one, before stepping up to the front of the room. She already looked exasperated with the lot of them and you could not help but smile. She appeared much like a school teacher, chastising her students and the avengers looked the part of the students very well.

She opened the meeting, getting straight to the point and giving most of them an assignment to follow. You noticed that she was carefully teaming people up, separating the people that had been fighting earlier. They all grumbled, but nobody objected and one by one they left the room.

“Good luck,” one of them, Bucky Barnes, mumbled as he passed you and you offered him a smile.

“See, this is why I need more help in PR” Pepper finally said as she dropped in a chair next to you. Everyone had gone and she finally allowed her stern mask to fall from her face. Exhaustion now clearly visible on it.

“They’ll be the death of me” she joked, chuckling a little at her own words.

“What happened?” You wanted to know. This could not always have been their way, or the avengers would have fallen apart long ago.

“They’re missing their leaders and they are yet to become a real team. Despite everything there is still too much they don’t know about each other,” Pepper explained and you nodded quietly.

Thanos may have been defeated months ago, but it had changed so much in such a short amount of time. You wondered how you would be able to help, besides putting a spin on whatever fight they would have in public. At some point something had to connect them or it would be the end of the avengers. And that was simply not something you were willing to accept just yet.


End file.
